For security scanning of persons, for example, at airports, railway stations or public buildings, metal detectors are conventionally used. However, these are not capable of detecting objects not made from metal, for example, ceramic knives, guns or explosives manufactured from ceramic materials. While the luggage of flight passengers is generally analysed using x-ray radiation, an ionising x-ray radiation can be used for scanning flight passengers only to a limited extent because of the health risks.
In recent years, devices and systems based on microwave radiation have therefore been developed, which allow a rapid and reliable security scanning of persons. Such a system based upon a microwave radiation is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,340 B1.
Furthermore, mapping the registered image data not directly but indirectly via a model and presenting them as a computer animation is known from DE 2010 014 880 A1. As a result, the private sphere of the persons under investigation is protected.
Body scanners which can scan a body surface in real-time in order to obtain a 3-D all-round view without producing motion-blurred images, necessitate imaging systems with a measurement time less than 1 ms and image repetition rates greater than 10 Hz. Such systems are technically very difficult to realise and also cost intensive, so that their use is questionable.